Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

The second part of the Monday news:

Voice actor Peter Renaday, who played Duncan in Dragon Age: Origins, has died age 89
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/voice-actor-peter-renaday-who-played-duncan-in-dragon-age-origins-has-died-age-89/
Peter Renaday, a voice actor who starred in a wide variety of roles in both videogames and TV, has died.
The news was announced by fellow voice actor and friend Townsend Coleman on Twitter earlier this week. Coleman wrote: "Folks, I’m devastated this morning to learn of the passing yesterday of our dear sensei, Peter Renaday. Pete was one of the most genuine, salt of the earth people I have ever known and I will miss him dearly."

EVE players are in revolt over CCP's blockchain plans: 'None of us want this crypto slop'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/eve-players-are-in-revolt-over-ccp-s-blockchain-plans-none-of-us-want-this-crypto-slop/
Yesterday, I wrote about my chat with CCP's top brass about its upcoming survival MMO EVE Frontier—a new game in the EVE universe that uses blockchain tech to (so goes the CCP pitch) take the player-led philosophy of EVE Online and make it weirder, wilder, and woolier, even letting players become effectively co-developers of the game alongside CCP. I went in as sceptical as I am of literally anything with the whiff of Web3 about it, but hearing the devs' pitch left me at least open to the possibility they were doing something interesting with the technology.
Which, ah, sets me apart from the bulk of EVE Online's already-existing community, seems like. EVE players have been suspicious of Frontier—known until yesterday by its codename Project Awakening—for a good long while now, and it doesn't seem like yesterday's unveiling has assuaged them any. If anything, it's driven them to new depths of despair.

Immortals of Aveum developers find a new home at Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser's Absurd Ventures studio
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/immortals-of-aveum-developers-find-a-new-home-at-rockstar-co-founder-dan-housers-absurd-ventures-studio/
Following the flop of the fantasy FPS Immortals of Aveum, a "core team" from developer Ascendant Studios has found a new home at Absurd Ventures, the studio launched in 2021 by Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser.

'There's an alternate universe where Half-Life disappeared after release': Valve's first marketing strategist Monica Harrington says she helped navigate its way out of early disaster
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/theres-an-alternate-universe-where-half-life-disappeared-after-release-valves-first-marketing-strategist-monica-harrington-says-she-helped-navigate-its-way-out-of-early-disaster/
Looking back on Valve's record of repeated hits and the fact that most of us are playing our PC games under Steam's monolithic shadow, it's tempting to think that this was the only way history could've gone. But according to Monica Harrington, Valve's chief marketing strategist in its early years and then wife of studio co-founder Mike Harrington, we only barely avoided a world where Half-Life left Valve in ruins, and we've got her work to thank for it.

PSA: Consider cranking up Space Marine 2's difficulty for co-op
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/psa-consider-cranking-up-space-marine-2s-difficulty-for-co-op/
Hey there, I won't keep you long: If you're playing Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's campaign with some friends, are you finding it too easy? My friend and I reached that point after the first few missions. I was hosting the lobby and had difficulty set to "Normal" like I do in 90% of games.
During the introductory mission that you have to play alone, Normal felt just right, but as soon as another player joined, we noticed the Tyranids couldn't put up a decent fight. At risk of getting bored, we decided to step up to the second-highest campaign difficulty in Space Marine 2, Veteran. Turns out, Veteran isn't so much a step up from Normal as a massive standing leap: Not only were we downgraded from three armor pips to just two (essentially nerfing our survivability by a third), but enemies got way more aggressive.
>> And if you’re confused by the 40K lore, here’s the lead voice actor explaining it to you.

Google results insist a Bugsnax sequel is coming out next month, but there's one small problem: Its devs aren't making one
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/google-results-insist-a-bugsnax-sequel-is-coming-out-next-month-but-theres-one-small-problem-its-devs-arent-making-one/
Getting your game noticed is a tricky business when you have to punch through the noise of the more than 10,000 new Steam games releasing each year. Young Horses, the developer of Bugsnax and Octodad, have found itself in an even trickier spot: Thanks to Google, people are expecting a Bugsnax sequel that doesn't exist.

Control 2 isn't affected by the collapse of Annapurna Interactive because the deal was signed by the other Annapurna
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/control-2-isnt-affected-by-the-collapse-of-annapurna-interactive-because-the-deal-was-signed-by-the-other-annapurna/
Despite the implosion of Annapurna Interactive—whose entire staff quit earlier this week—the recent deal its parent company, Annapurna Pictures, made with Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment will remain intact, according to the studio's communications director Thomas Puha.

Penny's Big Breakaway studio announces layoffs: 'Evening Star has been swept up in the same turbulence that has affected so many of our peers in the games industry'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/pennys-big-breakaway-studio-announces-layoffs-evening-star-has-been-swept-up-in-the-same-turbulence-that-has-affected-so-many-of-our-peers-in-the-games-industry/
The videogame industry continues to be wracked by instability and chaos: Evening Star, the developer of the 3D platformer Penny's Big Breakaway, has announced that "turbulence" in the business has forced it to lay off six employees.

Overwatch 2 gets a set of World of Warcraft 20th anniversary crossover skins
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2-gets-a-set-of-world-of-warcraft-20th-anniversary-crossover-skins/
Overwatch 2 will get a series of four skins as a collaboration-crossover with developer Blizzard's World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary. The four skins cast Overwatch characters as similar-in-silhouette counterparts from across World of Warcraft's 20 year history.

Pocketpair confirms Palworld isn't turning into a live-service game and won't be free-to-play: 'We are not changing our game's business model'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/pocketpair-confirms-palworld-isnt-turning-into-a-live-service-game-and-wont-be-free-to-play-we-are-not-changing-our-games-business-model/
In an interview with ASCII Japan, translated into English by Automaton Media, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe was asked about the future of open world creature-collector Palworld, and whether it would make sense to transition to a live-service model.